Bicycle-support.



No. 795,662. I PATENTED JULY 25, 1905; A. TAYLOR.

BICYCLE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 12, 1904 WITNESSES:

' IIVVENTOR i B. 5 601 2a Z m1 jar UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1905.

Application filed December 12, 1904. Serial No. 236,572.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ALFRED TAYLOR, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada,residing in the city of Victoria, in the Province of British Columbia,Canada, have invented a new and useful Bicycle-Support, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My i-nventionrelates to a bicycle-support of that class which forms anattachment to the frame of the bicycle itself and is portable with it.

It comprises two supportingstruts pivotally mounted one on each side ofthe wheelfork'of the bicycle-frame, which struts when not in use may beturned up alongside the fork members. The struts are simultaneouslyoperable by rods extending up the fork members and connected togetherabove the wheel diameter, which connected rods may be automaticallylocked to retain the struts in the down or supporting position, a boltcooperative with the lock mechanism simultaneously securing thewheel-fork against turning in the frame of the machine and enabling itto swing free of the supports. The supports thus incidentally afford ameans to secure the wheel and prevent it being taken away by mistake orwith intent to steal.

The invention is fully described in the following specification,reference being made to the drawings which accompany it, in which Figure1 shows the side elevation of the front wheel of a bicycle with thesupport in use, the dotted lines showing it in the upward position aswhen out of use; Fig. 2, a front end view of the same; Fig. 3, anenlarged detail of the pivotal attachment and operative mechanism of thesupport members; Fig. 4, an end elevation of the same; Fig. 5, anenlarged detail showing in side elevation and part section the lockdevice by which the supports are secured in the down position; Fig. 6, asectional plan of the same on the line A A in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 the key bywhich the lock tion of the frame in which the fork is turnable isindicated'by 4.

Pivotally mounted toward the lower end of each wheel-fork member 2 onpins 5 are the support members 8, the eye by which each is mounted onits pivot being an easy fit thereon, and the face 9, against which theinner side of the eye of the support bears, is outwardly beveled towardthe lower side and is continued asa curved guide 16 to spread outwardthe lower ends of the supports 8 when turned down, so that they willafford a sulficient base as struts to support the bicycle. The extremeend of these guides 16 are outwardly turned, as at 17 to check themovement of the support; at the desired limit. Where the pivot-pin 5 ison the end of the wheelaxle, a portion of the guide member 16 isbackwardly turned, as at 18, to clip the lower end of the fork 2 andsecure it against rotation. The edge of the eye portion of each supportmember 8 is provided with gear-teeth 10, into which mesh correspondingteeth of a rack 11, provided at the lower ends of rods 12, which rodsare endwise movable down the fork, each rod being slidable at the lowerend in a guide 13, secured to or forming a part of the face 9, whichguide preserves the rack in mesh. Toward the upper end each rod issupported in a guide or eye 14:, secured to the fork members 2. The rods12 are con-.

nected together at 15 above the wheel diameter, so that they may beoperated simultaneously, and the loop of their junction affords a meansby which they may be operated and by which they may be automaticallylocked to secure the supports in the downward position in a manner to bedescribed later. These constitute the primary elements of the device.When the rods 12 are lifted up, the support members8 will, by means ofthe rack-ends 11 engaging the toothed edge of the eye of each supportmember, be turned down, and the guide 16 will spread them apart, andwhen the rods 12 are pushed down the supports will be lifted from theground and will be turned up alongside the fork members 2 of thebicycle-frame, in which position, being nearly balanced, they may beretained by a slight rounded detent in each rod 12 opposite to theguide-eye 14:. Under these conditions when the supports are down aslight movement of the wheel forward would free it from the support ofthe members 8, and to prevent this it becomes necessary to lock thesupports in the downward position, or, what is the same thing, to lockthe operating-rods 12 at their extreme upward limit of movement. Thislocking is effected automatically in the following manner: On the lowerpart of the bicycle-frame, in which the front fork turns, a clasp 20 issecured in two halves,

the line of junction being in the middle line, and in the forward joint,which is outwardly extended for the purpose and between which therequired space is preserved, a lock-fork member 21 is pivotally securedon a pin 22.

'This lock-fork is so shaped that when its Opening is turned down towardthe junctionloop 15 of the rods 12 when these rods are downthat is, whenthe supports 8 are clear of the groundt -he upper fork member willproject in the path of 15 during its upward movement, so that suchupward movement will turn the lock-fork member 21 and carry the open endof the fork within the guard 23. A small spring-controlled pawl 24 is soplaced that it will engage a ratchet projection 25 in the fork member 21and will retain or look the fork member in this upward position. Therelease of this pawl when required is effected by a key 28, (see Fig. 7which being inserted in the key-opening 29 and pushed through will liftthe pawl from engagement with the projection 25.

The edge of the fork member 21 opposite to the fork is furnished with agear-segment 26, in which mesh the teeth of a slidable bolt 27, so thatas the. fork member 21 is turned to the upward position the bolt 27 willsimultaneously be forced down and will enter notches cut in the bead ofthe bicycle front frame member 4 and the collar 3 of the wheelfork stemand secure the latter against turning.

Where it may be inconvenient to c nnect the support members 8 to thewheel-axle, a small clip 30, as shown in Fig. 8, may be removablysecured to each wheel-fork member 2, which clip will be furnished with apivotpin 5 to receive the eye of the support member and have a beveledface 9, curved guide 16, and rack-guide 13, as before described.

The supports may be formed as open triangular frames, as illustrated inFig. 9 of the drawings.

When the device is applied to the rear or driving wheel of a bicycle,the slidable locking-bolt 27 may be omitted from the lock mechanism, asit will not be necessary.

Having now particularly described my invention and the manner of itsoperation, I declare that what I claim as new, and desire to beprotected in by Letters Patent, i s- 1. In adevice of the classdescribed; support members pivotally mounted toward the lower end ofeach fork member of a wheel, such members being operable on their pivotsby a toothed segment round the eye of the supports and rods havingrack-teeth at their lower endguides for such rods, and said rods beingendwise slidable in said guides down the fork members, means forretaining the supports when turned up alongside the fork, means forretaining the supports in the downward position, and a curved guide tospread each support during its movement to the downward position.

2. *In a device of the class described; the combination withpivotally-mounted supports adapted to turn up alongside the fork of awheel, rods each having a rack at their lower end connected togetherabove the wheel diameter said support members being operatable by saidracks at the lower end of said rods, means' for retaining said rods inthe downward position, and means for locking them in the upward positioncomprising, an attachment on the bicycle-frame a fork member pivotallysecured to said attachment on the frame of the bicycle, the upper sideof which fork will when turned down project in the path of the upwardmovement of the loop connecting the rack-rods, a guard behind which theopen end of the fork will pass when moved to the upward position, and apawl to retain the fork member in such upward position.

3. In a device of the class described; the combination withpivotally-mounted supports and rods by which they are operated,'of alocking means to retain the supports in the downward position and securethe wheel-fork spindle against rotation, comprising, an attachment onsaid bicycle-frame a fork member pivotally mounted in said attachment tothe frame of the machine, the upper side of which fork will when turneddown project in the path of the loop connecting the rods by which thesupports are operable, a guard behind which the opening of the fork willpass when the aforesaid loop is moved to its extreme upward position, apawl by which the I fork member will be retained in its upward position,a toothed segment on the edge of the fork member opposite to the forkand a bolt having rack-teeth to engage those of the segment, saidmachine-frame includingafront post and a wheel-fork spindle having acollar provided with notches, said bolt being designed to be forced downinto the notches through the bead of the front post of the machine-frameand collar of the wheel-fork spindle.

4. In a device of the class described; the combination with supportmembers pivotally mounted toward the lower ends of the wheelfork, eachsaid support having a toothed segment round the edge of the eye by whichit is mounted, of a looped rod having rack-teeth meshing with those ofthe support-eyes at each lower end, and a guide member secured on eachsupport-pivot and to the wheel-fork member, such guide member being bentround at one end to form a guide for the rack end of the looped rod, andat the other end curved round and down, and outwardly inclined at thelower end so as to spread the support member from the wheel andoutwardly turned at the end to afford a check for the support member atthe downward position.

5. In a device of the class described; the combination with supportspivotally mounted to the lower part of the wheel-fork and connected rodsby which such supports may be raised and lowered, a lock for securingthe support-operating rods in their upward position, comprising, a claspsecured in two halves to the front post of the bicycle-frame the jointmembers of such clasps being extended toward the front and maintainedthe required .distance apart, a small fork member pivotally mountedbetween them, a downwardlyprojecting guard secured between the uppersides of the joint of the two clasp members behind which guard the openend of the jaw may be moved, a spring-controlled pawl mounted betweenthe joint members of the clasp and designed to enter a detent in theedge of the fork member, a bolt slidable end- ALFRED TAYLOR.

Witnesses ROWLAND BRITTAIN, ELLICE WEBBER.

